


Two Angels, Two Brothers

by Laoness



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bromance, Friendship, Gen, Multi, Possibly Pre-Slash, light sastiel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-30
Updated: 2013-06-03
Packaged: 2017-12-13 10:29:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/823259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laoness/pseuds/Laoness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel was walking through the Chaos. The Angels. They were falling. His own family. How could this have happened? In all this chaos, he saw someone lying on the ground. Gabriel could only see the trench coat. Could it be? In a hurry he ran to the person. His nightmares came true as he recognized the person as his younger brother Castiel. “Cas! Cassie!” Gently he wrapped his arms around his "baby bro". It was in that moment that Gabriel wanted revenge for the first time in his life. He will avenge his family, deal with the person responsible for this personally and get Castiel's Grace back!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Uncontrolled Emotions

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after season 8 after Metatron took Cas' grace. One short note at the beginning. I altered the impacts of the fall to get the story going, which means the fall for Castiel was more hurtful than in the series.

It was already late and dark. Gabriel was wondering through the dark woods, not sure where he was going. Everything was different since he left heaven and his family behind. He loved them, all of his brothers and sisters, but at the same time they were just driving him crazy. The regular fights between Michael and Lucifer became worse and just unbearable for him. He couldn't handle it anymore. And the worst thing was, that their father did nothing to stop them. How was he ever going to be able to deal with all this family trouble? It was too much for him, so he just left. But now, as he thought about it, it would have been quite some fun, playing with his younger siblings, taking care of them, teach them how to protect the most precious possession of their father, the humans, and show them the world. Now, as he was standing in the middle of some random woods, darkness around him, he started to regret his decision. He was one of the oldest brothers, he should've been there for the younger ones. But now it was too late. There was nothing he could do.

Gabriel stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked through the woods. He wasn't even sure why he was here. But it didn't matter to him right now. All he needed was some fresh air to get his mind straight again. Then, suddenly, he saw a bright light in the skies. And then another one, and another one. What was going on? Was there a meteor shower or something? He looked up at the sky. The realization hit him like a fist in the face. Those were no meteors! Those were his brothers and sisters! The Angels! They were all… falling! He couldn't believe his eyes! But right in front of him, they were just falling from the sky like raindrops. Who could have caused this?! Now he regretted it even more, just to have left all of his siblings behind and let THIS happen. He felt so bad, guilty and angry at the same time. For the first time in his life, he didn't have his emotions under control! Still staring at the falling angels, his anger began to overcome his guilt. He needed to do something about this. There was no way of letting this all just happen. No way!

Full with anger and hate, he wanted to pay his old home a visit. But he couldn't. The gates to heaven were closed! That would explain the falling angels. Who could be this cruel and could have done this to his family? He swore to himself to find the one responsible for the fall of his siblings and get some pay back!

His anger started to boil within him and he barley could hold it in. Not able to enter heaven was even more painful and caused his anger to rise. Never before Gabriel experienced so much anger, hate and negative emotions. He felt something, something that he never really felt before, something that his father never wanted him to feel. Revenge. He wanted to revenge for this. Whoever did this, would pay, and Gabriel would assure that personally.

Unsure of what he would do now, he started walking faster, maybe he could save some of his brothers and sisters. Maybe not everything was lost. There was still a little flash of hope inside him. After all, he was an archangel with remarkable powers. There must be something he could do.

Suddenly, his eyes caught something in the darkness. He took a closer look and recognized the shapes of a person lying on the ground. Carefully, Gabriel approached the still unknown person. Through the light of the falling angels, he could see a trench coat. He gulped. Please, don't let this happen to me, he thought by himself as he was approaching the person. There was still a little sign of hope inside of him. But as we was coming closer, his misgiving started to come true and it burned inside of him like a fire.

Gabriel kneeled down and tried to hold back his tears. His anger flew away in just a second after he saw his younger brother, Castiel, lying in front of him. hurt, beat up, weak and fragile. Why him? What has he done to deserve this? He was always Gabriel's younger, sweet and innocent brother.

Carefully Gabriel wrapped his arms around his younger brother and looked at him. Was he even still alive? Could he have survived this fall? It was looking bad for his little brother, he was hurt pretty badly. But then again, Castiel always has been a fighter, and pushed to the end. God's little soldier.

"Castiel? Cassie?" Gabriel's voice trembled. "Come on Cassie, wake up!" But there was no response from the former angel. Gabriel tightened his grip a little and closed his eyes. His whole body was trembling and he felt the first tears on his face. It was no use to resist his emotions, so he let his sadness run free. Uncontrolled emotions overwhelmed the archangel, all this was too much for him. Thinking about his brothers fight, thinking about leaving his family, seeing them fall form the sky and now finding Castiel like this. Where was his father in all this? How could he just have let this all happen?

"You can't do this to me, Cas!" he whispered sobbing full of sadness. Gently he ran his fingers through Castiel's dark hair and looked at him. He was bleeding and his face beaten up. Deep wounds and blood covered his face. Other bruises filled the empty spots in his face. He looked to weak. What happened to him? Gabriel looked up at the sky. There were still angels falling down. How many would even survive this fall?

"Please, he's my little bro! You can't take him away from me!" Gabriel yelled up to the sky. His voice was still trembling and now full with anger. The tears were running down his face. The sadness and anger burned inside him and were like sting to his heart.

"Please father! I'm begging you! Give him back to me!" With those last words gabriel started to cry again. He wanted his little brother back, no matter the cost! If the others didn't survive, Castiel was the only thing he had left to call family. Gabriel was sitting, there, on the cold ground with Castiel in his arms, still weeping over his brother.

But then, suddenly something moved in Gabriel's arms. He opened his eyes and looks at Castiel. His fingers began to move and that little flash of hope returned to Gabriel. He wasn't dead!

"Cas! Cas can you hear me?" he asked, almost stumbling upon his own words. Slowly Castiel opened his eyes and looked at his older brother. He uttered some painful noises and tried to say something. But he was too weak. Castiel raised his hand but didn't get very far. Gabriel took his arm and gently laid it on Castiel's chest.

"It's okay, Cassie. I got you." Gabriel whispered still crying. No tears of sorrow but of joy. His brother was still alive! At least he had one of his brothers back. Gabriel still had his arms wrapped around Castiel.

"G…Gabriel…?" Castiel mumbled in pain and looked confused at his brother. "How did you… I thought…" he couldn't continue. Speaking cost him too much pain and so he leaned against his brother's chest and closed his eyes again. He wasn't an angel anymore, he fell, he was human now.

"Don't talk, save your strength, little bro." Gabriel said now a bit more calm. He wiped the tears of his face and wrapped his arms again around Castiel, to protect him. No one could hurt him now, his big brother would always be there from now on, to protect him, to look after him. Gently Gabriel could heal most of Castiel's woods, but the fall made his brother even weaker and he really needed some rest. But not here. If not here, where then? Where could he go where his brother could be save? Gabriel looked around him. Nothing but trees and darkness.

"Come on, Cassie, we got to get out of here. You need some rest and get used to being human." Gabriel looked at his little brother, who's eyes were still closed. Fondly he ran his fingers through Castiel's hair again. The uncontrolled emotions inside began to stabilize and Gabriel had himself under control again. Although he was still trembling and trying to get over this shock.

"The… Winchesters have a…" Castiel tried to talk again, still with his eyes closed. Gabriel didn't want him to speak, but they really needed a safe place to go.

"What? What do they have?" Gabriel asked. He was mad at himself for pushing Cas so hard, but at the moment he had no other choice. He would make it all up to him once they were safe.

"A… a bunker…" Cas mumbled silently. He could barley speak. Gabriel needed a moment to understand what he was saying. He had heard that the Winchester brothers had some sort of secret bunker now. They probably wouldn't mind if he got Cas there, just till he was feeling better.

"Okay, Cas. I'm getting us there. Just hold on!" Gabriel tightened his grip a little more and with a flap of an angel's wing they were at the bunker of the Winchesters. Gabriel took a look around. Nobody seemed to be there.


	2. Brotherly Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Headcanon #1: Gabriel's baby bro**  
>  Cas has always been Gabriel's favorite younger brother. However, he was teasing him sometimes and even being mean to him sometimes, but still Cas was his sweet and innocent _"baby bro"_ . He never really knew how much he cared about Castiel, till the moment he thought he was dead.

"Gabriel… my… my head…" Castiel clung to Gabriel's jacket. He was still in pain. They just arrived at the bunker of the Winchesters and Gabriel still had his brother in his arms. Castiel needed to rest and recover from this shock, otherwise he wouldn't make it.

"My head… it hurts… so bad…" Castiel tightened his grip and closed his eyes in pain. His deep, monotone voice was gone and it sounded fragile and weak, something Gabriel never had heard before. It burned Gabriel to see his brother in so much pain and that he was unable to help him. but Castiel had to go through this alone. Castiel mumbled some more words, but the pain was so great that he couldn't even pronounce them correctly. Gabriel put Castiel's arm around his neck and helped him up to his feet.

"I know Cassie. You really have to rest. Come on, I'm going to take care of you." Gabriel dragged his younger brother to one of the many rooms in the bunker and gently laid him down on the bed. He laid a hand on Castiel's forehead to feel his temperature, he was burning up. Castiel was still clinging onto Gabriel's jacket.

"Cas, you gotta let go, I'm gonna grab you some water, you're burning up." Gabriel tried to free himself from Castiel's grip, but his little brother wouldn't let go. His face was distorted in pain. Gabriel looked at him. HIs poor little brother was in so much pain and he was just powerless. He felt awful for not able to help him, that was the worst feeling for him.

"It… hurts, please… do something about it!" Castiel whispered and Gabriel could just barely understand it. Castiel's voice was so different from what Gabriel was used to. Instead of it being deep and monotone, it was now trembling and hoarse. Gabriel could understand how his brother was feeling. For the first time he experienced human emotions, that was a big step for someone like him. All human emotions in all forms and kinds overwhelmed him at once. It was almost like if he was experiencing some sort of mental breakdown. His body couldn't possibly bare this for much longer. So Gabriel had to move fast to save his brother. His angel powers could only heal physical wounds but not emotions.

"I know, little bro." Finally Gabriel could manage to free himself. "I'll be right back." Gabriel slowly turned away and searched the place for some ice and water. Gladly he found some in the kitchen and quickly came back to his brother, who was still struggling. It was the shock of the fall and all the sudden feelings and new experiences at once that caused his current condition. Gabriel wasn't sure if he could stand this view for much longer. He didn't see the same brother in front of him as he once did.

He put a towel in the ice cold water, wrung it out and put it on Cas' forehead. The icy water was feeling refreshing and relieving to Castiel and finally he could open his eyes after a few moments. This felt a lot better. Still, the pain wasn't gone yet and he was still feeling hot.

"Brother… it's… i'm…. warm…" he could only say as he was trying to get comfortable. Gabriel touched his cheek to feel the temperature. He was still incredibly hot. He poured some cold water into a mug and gave it into Cas' shaking hands.

"Here, drink this, you will cool down." Gabriel helped him to hold the mug steady and not spoil anything. Cas' drank everything without putting the mug down. Gabriel took the empty mug out of his, still, shaking hands and put it on the table next to the bed. Castiel turned his head a little sideways and looked at his brother. He still had difficulties with breathing, due to the pain.

"Are you feeling a bit better?" Gabriel asked concerned and put his hand on Castiel's cheek to see, if he cooled down a bit.

"Yes, a little bit." Castiel replied nodding his head slowly. He already sounded a lot more like himself. "How… how did you survive? I thought…" He stopped and struggled again. Gabriel took the, meanwhile, dry towel of his head, put it into the cold water and put the fresh, wet towel back on Castiel's head.

"You thought Lucifer killed me." Gabriel finished Cas' sentence. His little brother nodded and sighed. He was still feeling very warm and the sweat ran down his face. Gabriel gently wiped his face with another wet towel.

"Let's first get you comfortable. You can't rest with all these clothes on, bro." Castiel wasn't quite sure what he meant, but Gabriel spent way more time with humans, so he should know. He could ask him later how he survived the attack of their brother Lucifer.

Gabriel helped Cas to sit up and doffed off his trench coat and jacket. Castiel still had troubles with moving and so Gabriel did most of the work. Gabriel also untied Cas' shoes and took them off as well, then he took a blanket and covered his little brother with it.

"Are you more comfortable now?" he asked with a smile. Castiel nodded and laid his head back into the pillow. Gabriel looked at him, as if there was still something wrong.

"Come on, take that stupid tie off too." he said almost a bit annoyed and took Cas' tie off. "This should give you some more freedom." he added and smiled. Castiel had to admit that he was feeling much more comfortable now. His temperature dropped a bit and the pain was already a lot less. Now the two of them had all the time to talk and to catch up.

"Why are you doing this?" Castiel asked looking expectantly at his brother. Gabriel sighed. That was a good question actually. In the past he never really cared this much about any of his brothers or sisters, although he loved them. How could he explain his recent behavior to his little brother.

"You know, the moment I found you, I thought you were dead and all the others were gone as well. If that had been so, I had nobody left. I know, I didn't really act like I still loved you guys, with me leaving and all, but you have to understand Cassie, I still do. And in that moment when I saw you there, lying on the ground, covered in blood and seeing the others fall, I regretted the decision to have left you guys alone. I couldn't just leave you there. Besides, I had to do something to make this all right again." he paused and sighed. "I should have been there for you, for all of you. I'm sorry that I left you behind, as if I didn't care about you." Castiel looked at his brother. He believed him. Castiel knew, that deep down Gabriel loved all his siblings, even Lucifer.

"You took this chance to make yourself feel better after what you did?" Castiel asked after some time. He gave his brother a judging look. Gabriel seemed to be hurt by his question.

"No, of course not! It just made me realize that I never looked after you enough. And you know, in the moment I thought you were dead, I lost it. I couldn't handle losing you or live with the thought of leaving you behind. This isn't something to make myself feel better, Cassie! This is my chance, to prove to you that I can be a good brother and look after you, which I haven't done a lot in the past to be honest." Gabriel sighed again, trying to control his emotions. Explaining his behavior to his brother was far more difficult that he had imagined. But Castiel understood. Gabriel wanted to make it up to him, by taking care of him. It might have been a little late for that, but Castiel was grateful he did. If his brother hadn't found him, he'd probably be dead by now. And Castiel still had a lot to fix. He couldn't die just yet.

"You don't have to prove anything to me, Gabriel. I always believed that you were a good brother and I always looked up to you." Castiel respond in a calm and quiet voice. "And I am very thankful that you are taking care of me now." Gabriel smiled. Cas' would always be his cute and innocent little brother.

"I'd never leave you behind, you know that. I care about my family. And you know, you've always been my favorite brother." Gabriel chuckled. "You were so cute and innocent when you were small and everybody loved you. Cute little Cassie. Father had to tell me at least a dozed times to leave you alone for a bit. Ah yes, that was fun." Gabriel smiled while his old memories came back. Those were the good old days. Castiel didn't looked so amused, he looked rather embarrassed. However, he smiled, then he never really knew that Gabriel cared about him this much. He wanted to reply something, but till now he didn't even notice how tired he was. He was exhausted from all the pain and thought it was the best to rest a bit. There would be enough time to continue talking later.

"Try to sleep a bit, little bro, you'll feel better then." was the last thing Castiel heard his older brother say before he fell asleep.


	3. Memories

_Bright skies. Everything was peaceful. How he loved this feeling, it always calmed him down after seeing what was happening on Earth. Sometimes he would just stand there for hours, which felt like half of an eternity to him. Looking at the green grass and feeling the sun shining down on him and the ones around him. This was the place he would go to get his head clear. Clear of all the doubts and pain he had experienced in the past weeks. Clear of all these questions. What was going on with him? How did he get into this? What should he do next? Which side should he choose? All these questions were boiling inside of him like hot water and he didn't have anything close to an answer. But then suddenly the ground beneath him was shaking and the lovely picture he just saw began to break into little bits and pieces. He heard a deep growl coming from under the ground. No this couldn't be happening! This was his place of peace not of terror! He had to do something but he couldn't move his legs. What was happening? He couldn't control the motions of his body anymore. He was lost. The ground beneath him was gone and he was falling. Falling into darkness. Into the pit. Chains wrapped around his body and started to burn his skin away. The pain floated through his veins and his head pounded.Then there was a bright light and suddenly hot fire burning around him. Unable to move he saw someone walking towards him. Huge black wings on his back and he had an unpleasant grin on his face. In the light of the fire he could recognize his fallen brother. Panic aroused in him and he looked around. Shockingly he had to assert that he was surrounded by hideous demons. His fallen brother looked him right in the eyes. He could see the rage burning inside him and slowly but surely the monster within his fallen brother was crawling to the surface. He couldn't bear to watch this so he closed his eyes. The only thing he heard was the laughter of the demons around him, the laughter of his brother himself and the painful screams in the distance of the unfortunate souls in hell. He wasn't entirely sure what he felt because angels didn't feel anything. At least he was told so. But he was wrong. Because right in that moment he felt scared, panic and helpless. The sound of the laughter was getting louder and louder and surely but slowly he was turning crazy. "STOP!" he shouted but they didn't hear him. He was still pressing his eyelids together and had to fight against the tears, which made their way to the surface. This couldn't be happening. He was an angel! Why was he experiencing so many emotions all of the sudden?! But then, just as he thought he couldn't stand all of it anymore, the sound slowly went away and he opened his eyes. The chains were gone, as was the fire and the demons. Even his fallen brother was suddenly gone. There was nothing but white around him. He heard a voice but couldn't quite understand what it was saying. And then suddenly he was falling. Again. It seemed like all he was doing was falling. At least to him. While he was falling he saw familiar faces. Dead faces. And then the guilt came back to his mind and this time there was nowhere he could hide from it. He had to confront it. The guilt, that he was responsible for all these deaths, hurt like fire in his body. He closed his eyes again and wanted to run away from this guilt but he just couldn't. He had to face it. All these faces were dead because of him. And it was his job to fix it. As he opened his eyes he was facing a familiar sight. Something that he had almost forgotten. He was lying and his brother was leaning over him. Suddenly he felt a sting and then he saw a bright light, so bright that he couldn't see anything anymore and so he closed his eyes. "Castiel! Cassie!" he heard a familiar voice say. But it wasn't the voice of his brother he just saw. It was another brother. A lost brother. At least he thought he was lost. "Cassie!" he heard the voice say louder this time and suddenly everything went black._

With a choked scream Castiel woke up and looked into the eyes of his older brother Gabriel, who was leaning over him. Castiel felt Gabriel's hands grabbing his shoulders. He was dreaming. His pulse was fast, almost as if he just had to run for his life. Sweat was dripping from his face and he looked confused at his brother. Gabriel tried to calm him down by putting his hand on Castiel's cheek. 

"You were dreaming Cas." he said softly. "It's alright, You're save here." he assured his brother. Castiel was still looking confused through the room. He needed a few more moments to be sure that he wasn't dreaming anymore. It felt so real, with real emotions. Human emotions he had never really experienced. Not like this. 

"Hey. Cassie, are you okay?" he heard his brother ask and turned his head to face him. Gabriel could see the fear in his younger brother's eyes. What was he dreaming about? The way he was struggling while he was asleep, it must have been a nightmare. A very bad nightmare judging by his behavior. He didn't look alright. No, not at all. 

Castiel took one more breath and he needed a short moment to answer. He looked up at Gabriel. His older brother looked concerned. Castiel had never seen him like this. All these new things, that were happening around himself, were confusing him. He wasn't even sure what to do, say or feel. 

"Yes… I think I am." he eventually replied to his brother's question. "But I am still confused." he said honestly, because he didn't know what else to say. "What is happening to me?" He wanted answers, because he didn't have any of his own. 

"Cas." Gabriel laid a hand on his shoulder and searched for the right words. "You are human now and humans experience a big spectrum of emotions. And you… you are feeling them all at once and most of them you have never felt before. Probably." He paused and shook his head. "That's what is causing all of this pain and in your case confusion. And probably also your nightmare." Castiel looked surprised. 

"How did you know I had a nightmare?" Castiel asked and was still processing all that what his brother just told him. Gabriel sighed and removed his hand from Castiel's shoulder. Instead of answering him, he took a towel, put it into some cold water, wrung it out and put it onto Cas' forehead. His temperature was still higher than normal. Gabriel was feeling the disturbance, the restlessness within Castiel. It just hurt him to just sit there, feeling his younger brother's bad condition and being unable to help. 

"You were struggling in your sleep and trembling. I came to check on you and found you like that so the best thing to do was to wake you up before it got worse." Gabriel explained. He paused a moment before continue to speak. "What were you dreaming about?" he asked and already regretted it. Castiel's eyes widened as the memories of his nightmare came back. The Apocalypse, Lucifer and his demons, falling down and eventually Metatron leaning over him and taking his grace from him. He shivered and Gabriel laid his hand on his shoulder to calm Castiel down. 

"I…" Castiel started but struggled to continue. "I dreamed about the last months. All that what happened." He laid back down into the pillows and looked at Gabriel's concerned face. 

"You mean the Apocalypse?" Gabriel asked to be sure. Castiel just nodded. He was tired again. But if he tried to sleep now, he would just get back thrown into that horrible nightmare. Fear was one of the worst feelings he felt till now. He couldn't handle it. He was afraid of looking at his fallen brother. He had to admit, that he scared him. Castiel didn't want to go back to sleep just to see that face again. 

"Come on now, Cassie. Don't think about that, that's all in the past. Try to get some more rest, you have to get your strength back." Gabriel smiled and covered Castiel in a blanket. Castiel looked at him. 

"Why?" he just asked. Why would he need his strength now? There was nothing he could do. He was human now and he was still trying to accept that. He spent so much time watching and observing the humans but to be one himself was actually too much for him. Now that he was experiencing all these emotions, he admired the humans how they could keep on going. How did they manage this? 

"Because you need it when we're going to retrieve your grace." Gabriel interrupted his thoughts. Castiel couldn't believe what he just heard. 

"What?" he replied in surprise. "How are we going to do that? Metatron took it from me and now he is unreachable for us." Castiel explained to his brother. Gabriel shook his head. 

"The gates of heaven may be closed and that dick might just be getting comfortable up there without us. But we are going to find a way up there, deal with that coward and get your grace back! I promise." The serious look in Gabriel's face told Castiel that his brother wasn't lying about this. He was dead serious. It wasn't just getting Castiel's grace back that drove Gabriel, but he also had a few things to fix up there. And he would deal with Metatron for what he had done. 

Something interrupted their conversation. Gabriel turned his head and faced the door. He heard footsteps and some voices. Probably the Winchesters. By the sound of it Sam wasn't doing to great either. 

"I'm just gonna see what's going on there." Gabriel said and faced his younger brother again. But Castiel didn't hear him, he had his eyes closed and was asleep again. 

"You stay here little bro, I'm gonna take care of this."


	4. Concern

"You're gonna be okay Sammy! I got you!" Dean was carrying Sam down the stairs. One arm around his neck. Sam was obviously struggling to walk and was in a real bad condition. Quickly Dean dragged Sam into another room of the bunker and laid him on a bed. Sam pressed his eyelids together in pain. Fortunately he was doing already a little better than before at the abandoned church. Dean took care of his little brother just like in the past. He was always there for his little brother when he needed him. When he was hurt or in danger. He would never ever give him up on him. 

Dean was so busy taking care of Sam that he didn't notice Gabriel standing in the doorway. He was observing them. He knew what happened to Sam and what was still going on. Gabriel could feel the pain of the unfinished trials still floating through Sam's veins. He felt the same restlessness within Sam as he felt within Castiel. They both needed time to recover from this shock. 

Gabriel was still standing there. He knew he couldn't help, that's why he didn't say anything at first. It was better to let Dean take care of his brother first before showing himself to him. It was a tense situation, for both of them actually. Both of their younger brothers were badly hurt. Not necessarily physically but more emotionally. They both needed time to recover and Gabriel and Dean needed to be there for them. 

Finally Dean managed to handle Sam's pain good enough to leave him alone to rest. It took quite a while and a lot of tricks, but they had the knowledge of The Man of Letters. Powerful knowledge. Sam was resting in his bed, he looked more at peace than half an hour before when Gabriel saw them entering the bunker. Dean stood up and left Sam's room. As he shut the door and turned around he saw Gabriel sitting at the table, which was standing in the middle of the room. Dean froze and stared at Gabriel for a good minute. He blinked a couple of times to be sure it wasn't some hallucination or a trick of the shock. 

"Surprise, I guess." Gabriel just said with his typical grin. Dean wasn't even sure what to respond or what to feel. He needed a moment to realize who was sitting there. He gave the archangel an unsure look. Finally he caught himself and was sure this wasn't some sort of dream. 

"What the hell are you doing here?!" he yelled at him. "And how the hell are you even still alive?!" he added after a short pause. Dean had so many questions to ask the angel, who was sitting in front of him as if nothing was happening. Didn't he just witness that his whole freaking family fell from the sky?! What was wrong with him?! And why wasn't he dead?! With the questions also came the anger at the angel. Why didn't he do something to stop all of this madness? And what about the stuff that happened earlier?! And then Dean was also feeling confusion. He didn't understand what was happening. How could he be here?

"I'll explain that to you later." Gabriel said in his usual voice and stood up. He acted like he was okay, but he was far from okay. But he was sure Dean wasn't feeling any better. Sam was in serious pain and who knew how long it would take for him to recover. 

"Why?! Do you have anything more important to do?! I sure as hell want to know how you're still alive! I could've sworn that Lucifer iced you right in front of my own eyes!" Dean replied in an angry voice and confused at the same time, speaking so fast he almost stumbled upon his own words. Gabriel sighed. 

"Because it's easier to explain myself once than three times." Gabriel repulsed. Dean looked confused for a second. What did he just hear? Three times? Couldn't he count or was there someone else? Dean managed to control his anger and calmed down a little bit. However he was still feeling uncomfortable with facing the archangel, he thought was dead. 

"What? Three times? The hell are you talking about?" Dean asked confused. In his concern for his brother he forgot about everyone else or other possible visitors in this bunker. Gabriel walked around the table and stood in front of Dean. Apparently all angels had a light problem regarding personal space. 

"I'm talking about MY brother. Castiel." Gabriel responded seriously and looked Dean in the face. There was something about the archangel that gave Dean the shivers. "You're not the only one with a hurt little brother you know." Gabriel's words almost didn't reach Dean. He was still trying to progress the first thing he sad. Cas! How could he have forgotten about him?! 

"Cas! Damn it, what happened to him? What the hell did he do?" Dean had no idea what had happened to Castiel up in heaven, he had no idea that he was human now, what he was going through. Gabriel understood that but still he looked angry at Dean for blaming Castiel for what had happened. 

"He didn't do anything!" Gabriel responded in a deep and somewhat scary voice, possibly because some of his real voice was leaking through. He was an archangel after all, Dean had almost forgotten that. "He fell, like every single one of my brothers and sisters. I was just in time to save him from an emotional breakdown! So you don't even dare to think about him like that!" Gabriel continued and Dean took a step back. He never knew the archangel could be this terrifying. 

"What do you mean with emotional breakdown?" Dean asked after pulling himself together from this new image of the angel in front of him. 

"Well, he fell, which means he's human now. And human means emotions. He's experiencing the full spectrum of human emotions. For someone who has never really let emotions get to him, that can really be painful and exhausting." Gabriel explained to the older Winchester. Dean understood how that must feel. He had experienced enough pain, hurt, sadness, concern, disappointment and all other kinds of emotions to imagine how it must be like to experience them all at once. Especially for someone like Cas. 

"Where is he?" Dean asked after some seconds of silence. "Or the better question, how's he doing?" He was truly worried about his friend. What happened up there in heaven? How did he fall? All these questions were running through Dean's mind. But the answers would have to wait. At least he now knew why Cas couldn't answer his last call. 

"He's not doing better than Sam, I can assure you that." 

"Sam!" Dean looked at Gabriel and just had a thought running through his mind. "You gotta patch him up! … You still have your angel mojo right?" Dean was hoping with his everything that the angel in front of him would confirm that. He couldn't bare another disappointment or another lost of hope today. 

"I'm still me, so yes, I still have my angel powers. But I'm not able to patch up your little bro." Gabriel answered and shrugged. "Sorry." The hope inside Dean turned to ash in just one second. But not all of it was gone. At least there was one angel left. Maybe they could figure out a way together to fix this mess. 

"Tell me…" Dean leaned against the table. "Is he going to be okay?" Gabriel sighed and sat on the table next to him. It was a strange picture, these two sitting next to each other. At least Dean accepted the fact that Gabriel was still alive or alive again, whatever happened to him. But he would have to be patient to find that out. 

"He'll recover in time." Gabriel said after awhile of silence. Dean looked at him and saw that he also was concerned. 

"Yeah… What about Cas?" Dean hated it to just sit there and do nothing while his brother and best friend were trying to confront the pain they were in. But what could he do? Sitting beside them and watch them struggle would be even more painful. 

"He needs some time as well to recover but eventually he'll be fine." Gabriel let out a deep sigh and looked up at the ceiling. "I hope."


End file.
